| Because of their unique biological and material properties, lipid bilayers have been extensively studied for use in biosensor and drug delivery applications. In the past, these systems have mostly taken the form of bulk solutions. More recently, researchers have integrated bilayers with chip-based architectures to take advantage of advanced optical, scanning probe and electronic characterization. These applications typically involve the creation of hybrid devices with inorganic and bilayer components, both of which affect the final device performance. In particular, the properties of supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) are known to depend on the substrate chemistry and topography as well as the lipid used. In spite of the large body of work involving these systems, there is still much that remains unknown about the formation and ultimate structure of the interface between these very different materials. One outstanding question in the study of SLBs is the role that the bilayer deposition method plays in determining the bilayer properties.In this work, we have developed a new method for forming and patterning lipid bilayers: bubble collapse deposition (BCD). This method is similar to an in situ version of Langmuir-Blodgett deposition, and offers unique possibilities for the fabrication of lipid-based devices. Briefly, a lipid monolayer is "inked" onto the surface of an air bubble. This bubble is then brought down on a solid support and the air is withdrawn. This withdrawal of air shrinks the bubble, which causes the monolayer to fold over on itself and redeposit on the surface as a bilayer. With BCD, we have demonstrated the first SLB formation on alumina using uncharged lipids. Using this system, we have measured a previously unobserved enhanced hydrodynamic coupling at the alumina surface. We have also used BCD to produce a hybrid lipid-gated chemical delivery device with potentially sub-cellular spatial resolution. Because of the unique material properties of the lipid seals in this system, these devices can retain a chemical of interest for weeks and yet rapidly release this load (within tens of ms) when triggered by a simple optical input. Finally, we have used BCD to directly transfer lipids from a cell membrane to a substrate surface. We present studies characterizing which membrane components are transferred, including lipids, proteins and the cytoskeleton. These studies offer both increased functionality of hybrid lipid systems and fundamental insights into the interactions between lipids and common semiconductor fabrication materials. |
